Faceless Fighters
by aintsobad
Summary: In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, there are shinobi who kill, fight, slash and die. They brand themselves with a red tattoo and wear porcelain masks. They live in the shadows, but why?
1. Faceless Fighters

**This is a little ficlet about Konoha's Anbu forces, featuring chapters on shinobi in Anbu and why they do it.**  
 **Read, review, enjoy! x**  
 **-**

Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai.

There is no grandeur in being Anbu. They serve their village from the shadows, live in the dark.

They hunt, assassinate and ruin.

They kill children and civilians, destroy livelihoods, prey on the most dangerous of shinobi.

It's not the life of a hero. It's not the life of the remembered.

Yet Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, continues to swear in more shinobi into her elite Anbu force. And every time, she ignores the little voice in her head telling her she's sent one more loyal ninja to their death. She likes to remind to herself to trust in her shinobi and their ability to survive.

Before she became the Fifth, she had never understood why anyone chose to be Anbu.

Of course, she is a shinobi. She has always known what duty meant. And she has always known it is the duty of every shinobi to protect the Leaf.

But it's also an unspoken duty to _die_ for the Leaf too and Anbu live with this more than most.

They serve the village after all.

It's not until she becomes the Fifth Hokage does Tsunade understand a little more.

There are no easy days or heroic dreams in Anbu.

But Tsunade finds them rather heroic.

They defend, save, protect.

Are killers still monsters if they do it for the right reason?

She has the humility to realise that there are no "right" reasons. But she finds that Konoha's safety is a pretty damn good one.

If no one will remember them as heroes, she at least will.

 _to be continued._


	2. Shikamaru Nara

**Shikamaru Nara.  
Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto characters, especially not Shikamaru, but this is me taking a peek into his mind. :)  
Read, review, enjoy! x  
-**

Shikamaru Nara is a genius. Yet he's still surprised at himself when he finds himself picking up a deer porcelain mask and trading in his jounin vest for silver armour.

He has always thought himself unremarkable. In fact, he's strived for it.

 _Troublesome_ , he decides. Being a shinobi - Anbu, no less,- is so very troublesome.

On the bright side, Shikamaru thinks, no one has ever returned dead from one of his squad missions. But that's because it's Captain Naruto's only promise at Anbu Black Ops that no one dies. So far, he's kept good on his promise but Shikamaru knows the statistics; they tell him it's only a matter of time. (Then again, statistics don't speak for Naruto's unpredictability and sheer perseverance).

He walks the halls of Anbu HQ every day - it's become his routine. He knows now that the stories and fantasies of Anbu are nothing and exactly what Anbu is like.

Mostly, Shikamaru thinks, they're a group of shinobi with a death wish and a curious, unwavering loyalty to Konoha.

That's what it takes to stay in ANBU. Nothing else but _sheer_ loyalty, short of insanity, which Shikamaru admits, some of the black op operatives are, keeps these shinobi around.

He doesn't get _it_ at first.

He doesn't understand why Genma Shiranui has spent nearly a decade as an Anbu taichou, when he could be a jounin leader if he wanted. He doesn't understand why Uzuki Yuugao still sticks around even after her beloved died. And he certainly doesn't understand why Naruto Uzumaki, who has so much to live for in the sun, chose to retreat into the darkness.

But eventually, Shikamaru understands.

He _is_ a genius and it would be rather disappointing, after all, if he couldn't puzzle out his own comrades.

 _Fight so others may not._

Shikamaru Nara is a genius, a tactician, so he knows that Anbu shinobi are some of the most capable out there. Which means, Konoha needs them. When no one else _can_ or _dares_ , they will do it.

It's troublesome, but his village needs him. And he loves Konoha. He is born and raised to love it. He doesn't need to be a hero, he just needs to know his people are okay.

So he stays.

He sees no reason to leave (not until Naruto becomes Hokage and needs him). But more so, he stays because he can. He should. He's smart, quick on his feet and a shadow-user that's good at what he does. Logically speaking, not staying would be a disservice and waste to his home. Shikamaru is lazy but he does what his brilliant IQ tells him is best.

He continues to fight and Shikamaru knows Konoha benefits, so even when his sleep becomes permanent nightmares, he still rests because he knows Konoha is safe.

 _to be continued._


	3. Genma Shiranui

**I wrote this hurriedly (I hate the ending) and I apologise for any wrong information but there's not a lot about Genma to write on anyways. But I still really like his character! I'm not sure this piece worked (OOC af oops?), but hey - I hope you like it. Also, does anyone have suggestions on what shinobi I should include in this mini, introspective series?  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Naruto-verse :)  
Read, review, enjoy! x  
-**

Genma Shiranui is still young. The old matrons at the grocery stores still coo at him and the ladies at the bar still flirt with him. Shikaku Nara can't believe Genma's still got no wrinkles and Iruka Umino laughs at how all the Academy girls call him pretty.

Once, when Kakashi heard a little girl say that, the scarecrow had barked out a harsh laugh and said to Genma, "Hear that, Tiger? You're _pretty_."

Kakashi Hatake said it because Kakashi was Genma's captain and they both know no one at Anbu is _pretty_. (The word is too innocent; it's what Anbu use to describe a girl just before they slaughter her because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time).

So Genma knows he's not young. He's old enough to have fought in the Third Great Shinobi War, and he's old enough to have been in Anbu for many, many years.

There's no _youth_ in that.

On record, Genma is Tokubetsu Jounin. On record, he is a former shinobi of the Hokage Guard Platoon for the Yondaime. Off record, he's an assassin, a wet work artist, a spy whose moral code is buried under ten feet of solid rock.

He's a captain now, has been for a while. Kakashi Hatake retired from Anbu (not that anyone ever _leaves_ Anbu) and the heads made Genma a captain.

Years ago, if Genma could imagine himself as a leader of anything, it would be as a jounin teacher of a genin team.

He would be a teacher, just like Minato Namikaze was when he took Genma in, made him a personal guard and taught him the Hiraishin. (Genma has never tried perfecting it on his own because that legend is Minato's, not his)

Instead, he teaches Anbu rookies how to be unbreakable, unstoppable and a little inhumane. He teaches them what a massacre looks like and what an assassination really is.

At the end of the day, he also tries to teach them loyalty and honour.

On bad days, when Genma finds himself lying in a hospital bed, staring at a pale white ceiling, he thinks he's failed. He's scared Konoha is still fragile, scared his rookies are still naive. He dreams about being a regular jounin and instead he finds himself faceless with dozens of dead men staring at him as he sleeps.

Genma remembers their faces and their disgustingly human and broken cries.

On better days, Genma knows he's succeeded a little bit. He knows his rookies know what honour and loyalty is. (Or maybe they were just brought to him with a tougher shell and a brighter mind).

 _Make them unbreakable._

He knows they know what loyalty is, because one time Neji Hyuuga passed out from overusing his Byakugan after slaughtering an entire merchant caravan and Kiba Inuzuka carried him all the way back to Konoha.

He knows they know what honour is, because he's heard Shikamaru Nara whispering "Sorry, I have to do this. You hurt my home." to an already dead, corrupt man and he's seen Naruto Uzumaki burying pretty children in cold, hard soil.

So he stays.

He's messed up, he admits to his friends, but he's not _broken_ and that makes him a great teacher. He laughs and he jokes and he has the same wry smile he had back when he was a genin. (It's why the girls call him young).

He stays and he takes more missions and all the while, he can feel the backbone of Konoha standing taller, and he can see Anbu fearless as ever.

He can feel stronger bricks and thicker cement and he knows he's a part of that.

 _to be continued._


End file.
